Sandy's Motherhood Blog: Food, Fun, Fashion: 2026 Met Gala: Red Carpet Review

The Met Gala each year is inspired by the spring exhibition at the Costume Institute. This year, the collection "Costume Art" explores the human body in all its forms, young and old, large and small, of all abilities, highlighting 5000 years of fashion. The official dress code of the Gala was "Fashion is Art," and was expected to showcase sculptural, architectural, and conceptual garments, with designers creating pieces that resembled fine art, statues, or anatomical forms.

Let's see how well they did - and who and what inspired them!

Sabrina Carpenter in custom Dior

Audrey Hepburn as Sabrina

Carpenter wore a halter dress made from strips of movie film, with draped accents at the hip, jeweled chains draped along her arms, a deep side slit, and a short train, topped with a jeweled headpiece. It was intended as an homage to her namesake character played by Audrey Hepburn in the 1954 film Sabrina. And yes, the strips the dress was made from are from Sabrina. Also, the Gala was held on Hepburn's birthday.

Audrey Nuna in Robert Wun

No. 14 by Jackson Pollock

Nuna wore a floor-length white coat dress trimmed and splattered with black, with a matching hat and gloves. It had great lines and a definite Jackson Pollock vibe.

Doechii in Marc Jacobs

Carved Yoruba female figure in the Brooklyn Museum

Doechii wore a "barely there" burgundy dress that consisted mostly of a long train that draped across her body and around and over one arm, accessorized with a mile-high hair wrap. The ensemble had a primal feel that her makeup artist, Chelsea Uchenna, described as "very bohemian, very goddess vibes." It reminded me of traditional tribal art from various parts of Africa.

Rosé in Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent

"The Birds" by Georges Braque

Rosé wore a simple strapless black column with a high slit, accented with a large silver dove at the hip. The gown was inspired by two previous Saint Laurent designs, from 1998 and 2002. The bird motif, used frequently by Yves Saint Laurent, was inspired by the painting The Birds, by Georges Braque.

Hailey Bieber in custom Saint Laurent

A look from the 1969 Saint Laurent collection

Hailey Bieber wore a molded 24-karat gold bodice over a cobalt blue chiffon skirt with a matching long cape. The look was inspired by a 1969 Yves Saint Laurent design, when Yves Saint Laurent collaborated with sculptor Claude Lalanne to make two similar electroplated molded bodices, which he paired with lightweight, flowing skirts to contrast the two materials.

Olivia Wilde in Thom Browne

An example of a cage bustle, c. 1876

Olivia Wilde's gown was somewhat ho-hum in the front, appearing to be a basic black column with dropped shoulder straps. But the back revealed the boning of a cage bustle and a virtual explosion of white tulle. The look celebrated the emphasis on female curves historically created by fashion accessories including bustles and crinolines.

Alex Consani in Gucci

"Primavera" by Sandro Botticelli

Consani wore a gown with a sheer flesh-toned boned corset bodice and a relatively straight black feather skirt, topped with a white cloak used both to create a "big reveal" moment and to form a long train. Designer Demna was inspired by the Botticelli painting Primavera, specifically the scene at the right featuring Zephyrus (the god of the west wind) and Chloris (the goddess of flowers and spring).

Kendall Jenner in Schiaparelli

"Portrait of the Artist's Daughters" by Thomas Gainsborough

Jenner's gown also featured a flesh-toned bodice, although hers was smooth and had nipples, imitating a naked torso, and her skirt included the top of a corset-style dress, unlaced and folded down, as if she had removed the top of the dress, which trailed into a long, full train. Jenner's gown made me think of an artist's model sitting primly straight for hours, then loosening and removing her tight corset for some relief after the session (every woman who's ever taken her bra off after a long day can identify with that).

Stevie Nicks in custom John Galliano for Zara

"A Lady in Riding Clothes" by Candide Blaize

Nicks wore a midnight blue riding ensemble with a ballgown-style full skirt that was embroidered and appliqued with roses, a velvet and taffeta jacket featuring a flared peplum, and a top hat adorned with an elegant ostrich plume. Her jewelry included a dazzling opal and diamond pendant necklace. Women in the mid-19th century often wore similarly ornate riding habits that combined function and fashion.

Beyoncé in Olivier Roustein

Kuzco in "The Emperor's New Groove"

Beyoncé celebrated the beauty of human anatomy in a sheer dress encrusted with a diamond skeleton, right down to the gloves, finished with a long ombre feathered grey cape and an Incan-style sunburst-shaped headdress.

Naomi Osaka in Robert Wun

Diagram of female musculature

Osaka wore a two-piece ensemble with a white flared coat with puff sleeves and red leaf accents, topped with a large white hat with more red leaf accents, and underneath, a form-fitting red dress with embroidered details echoing human musculature. The look was intended to also represent the shedding of the skin to reveal the inner self.

Eileen Gu in Iris Van Herpen

Gu competing at the 2026 Olympic Games

Gu wore a short, tutu-style dress covered with large glass bubbles - and the dress blew soap bubbles! The whimsical design was part of Van Herpen's "Sympoiesis" collection, which was inspired by bioluminescence. Van Herpel worked with design studio AA Murakami to create the look, which was intended to echo Gu's "airborne grace on the slopes" as a freestyle skier.

Katy Perry in custom Stella McCartney

A fencer wearing a helmet

Katy Perry wore a white apron dress with a short train, accessorized with white opera gloves and a fencing-style mirrored helmet by designer Miodrag Guberinic. She also carried tarot cards. The mirrored helmet was intended to invite the observer to "consider that their perception of others can mirror their own internal world, and conversely mask truth." Um, okay? The symbolism felt a little forced to me, and I'm not sure how the rest of the dress or the tarot cards tied in.

Nicole Kidman in Chanel Couture by Matthieu Blazy

"The Lucca Madonna" by Jan van Eyck and "Lady Dr. M." by Friedrich August von Kaulbach

Kidman wore a form-fitting red sequin gown featuring long sleeves, a high neck, a short train, and a wide row of feather trim around the hips and on the sleeves. She stated, "I wanted something red because I wanted to embrace the way red has been used in art through the years...it's a strong symbol for...passionate love, vitality, for power - and motherhood."

Lena Dunham in custom Valentino by Alessandro Michele

"Judith Slaying Holofernes" by Artemisia Gentileschi

Lena Dunham also wore a sequin-and-feather red gown, in her case inspired by the painting Judith Slaying Holofernes by Gentileschi, or at least a very abstract interpretation of it: namely, the blood spatter. Unfortunately, the volume of feathers at the top of the dress overwhelm her, nearly hiding her face. It was a solid concept, but somewhat poor execution.

Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo in Jean Paul Gaultier

Kendall Jenner in Zac Posen for GapStudio

Winged Victory of Samothrace

Yu-Chi Lyra Kuo and Kendall Jenner both wore gowns inspired by the classical Greek statue titled Winged Victory of Samothrace. Kuo's stunning sculptural pleated gown featured a recreation of the torso of the sculpture at the top of the skirt, as well as two additional wings forming the bodice. For Jenner's gown, designer Posen was additionally inspired, curiously enough, by a plain white Gap t-shirt. Posen experimented with pulling and stretching the lightweight fabric trying to capture the windswept look of the statue, eventually layering the fabric with organza and chiffon to create the desired effect.

Gwendoline Christine in Giles Deacon

"Mrs. Hugh Hammersley" by John Singer Sargent

A photograph by Yevonde Middleton

"Fire Queen" by Ira Cohen

Christie wore a look designed by her longtime partner, Deacon, who was inspired by three sources: 1) the paintings of John Singer Sargent, 2) the photography of Madame Yevonde Middleton from the 1930s and 1940s, and 3) the work of counterculture poet and photographer Ira Cohen. Sargent's elegance and graceful lines are evoked by the cinched waist and mermaid silhouette, Yevonde's surrealism appears in the mask of Christie's own face and the exaggerated hat, and Cohen's hallucinogenic distortions are in the lines of color swirling down the skirt.

Sabine Getty in Ashi Studio

"Venus" by Sandro Botticelli

Getty's gown featured a form-fitting bodice painted like a naked torso with hands wrapped around covering one breast and the lower abdomen, with a single sheer ivory sleeve and matching skirt with ragged edges. Getty writes, "...the hand-painted corset references 18th-century painting, where light and shadow shape the body, echoing the tradition of academic nudes."

Jordan Roth in Robert Wun

"Pygmalion & Galatea" by Jean-Léon Gérôme

Jordan Roth wore a delightfully bizarre creation in which a long, draped robe was topped with a mannequin torso holding Roth's hand and cradling his head. The silvery-gray velveteen fabric, which completely covered all of his body except his head, created the effect of a marble sculpture. Roth cites the inspiration as his favorite painting at the met, Pygmalion & Galatea by Jean-Léon Gérôme, which depicts the statue of Galatea turning from marble to flesh at Pygmalion's kiss.

Lisa in Robert Wun

A Thai dancer in traditional dress

Lisa wore a white crystal-embellish gown that was unremarkable in itself, but the headpiece, a long lace veil held up by a pair of 3D-printed arms posed in a traditional Thai dance position (she is Thai on her mother's side and was raised in Thailand), was striking and memorable.

Naomi Watts in Dior by Jonathan Anderson

"Tableau Final" gown from the Spring 1951 Dior collection

Portrait of Frida Kahlo

Watts wore a black gown accentuated with colorful flowers inspired by Dior's 1951 Spring collection. The floral theme continued in her sculptural hairstyle and floral nail art. Her look also felt very reminiscent of artist Frida Kahlo, particularly with the flowers in her hair.

Janelle Monae in Christian Siriano

A pile of discarded circuit boards

Monae wore a post-apocalyptic design made from old electrical cables, discarded circuit boards, moss, and succulent plants, with butterflies scattered throughout. It was intended to represent the entanglement of nature and technology. Siriano described the concept as, “when nature overtakes the machine for the ART.”

Yseult in custom Harris Reed Demi-Couture

The Venus of Willendorf

Yseult wore a form-fitting black gown with a metallic gold bodice front and exaggerated collar, and a circular headpiece that hovered above her head and covered her eyes. Her look reminded some viewers of the famous ancient statue called The Venus of Willendorf.

SZA in Bode by Emily Adams Bode Aujla

A Wiener Werkstätte postcard by Urban Janke, 1908

SZA's gown and headpiece were created entirely from pieces purchased on eBay through a vintage dealer who sourced multiple types of yellow fabric: tulle, taffeta, silk faille, and beaded lace. The look was intended to portray the "divine feminine." Aujla based the design of the gown on the style of the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshop), a pre-war design collective focused on craftsmanship and natural themes.

Anne Hathaway in Michael Kors

A Grecian urn in the Benaki Museum in Athens

Anne Hathaway's black-and-white gown was inspired by the Keats poem Ode on a Grecian Urn, and was hand-painted by artist Peter McGough.

Venus Williams in custom Giovanna Engelbert

"Venus Williams, Double Portrait" by Robert Pruitt

Williams wore a body-hugging black gown adorned with Swarovski crystals, but the real star of the look was her striking silver filigree collar with its draping silver chains, which, when paired with her tall updo, made her look like an Egyptian goddess. Interestingly, the look was inspired by her own portrait, Robert Pruitt’s Venus Williams, Double Portrait, which was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery. Williams said, "It reflects not just my journey but the legacy of those who came before me...It felt like a personal way to [use] fashion to tell a story about legacy and progress and honoring those who made it possible."

Emma Chamberlain in custom Mugler by Miguel Castro Freitas

"Starry Night" by Vincent Van Gogh

Chamberlain (whose father is a painter) became a painting in this gown, which was inspired by the works of Vincent Van Gogh and Edvard Munch and hand-painted by artist Anna Deller-Yee in shades of deep blue, vivid yellow, moss green, and dark red.

Natasha Poonawalla in custom Dolce & Gabbana

A white orchid

Poonawalla's white gown was overshadowed by the giant orchid designed by visual artist Marc Quinn which she wore on top of it. Even her stunning five-tiered diamond earrings couldn't steal the spotlight from the human orchid she became.

Chase Infiniti in Thom Browne

The Venus de Milo

"Shot Sage Blue Marilyn" by Andy Warhol

Infiniti wore a colorful sequined gown inspired by the Venus de Milo - perhaps by way of Andy Warhol and other 1950s pop art.

Heidi Klum in Mike Marino

“Veiled Vestal” by Raffaelle Monti

Heidi Klum certainly understood the assignment in this immersive statue costume inspired by the 1847 sculpture Veiled Vestal by Raffaelle Monti. Rather than consulting a fashion designer, Klum worked with makeup artist Mike Marino (who often designs her famous Halloween costumes) to create her look using latex and spandex to mirror the stillness, delicacy, and illusion of carved marble. When asked how long it took her to get ready, she joked, "Oh, about 20 minutes or so."

Here are some other looks that recreated a specific painting or sculpture - I ran out of time to comment on them all, but they're worth taking a look at.